Contractor informs California high speed agency of new delays
A contractor on California’s high speed rail project has told the state high speed rail agency that it will not complete a 65-mile section of the railway in the Central Valley until at least April 2025, almost two years after the target date in the agency’s newly adopted business plan. The Los Angeles Times reports a consortium led by the Spanish firm Dragados informed the California High Speed Rail Authority of the delay in a letter earlier this month, blaming state delays in acquiring the land needed for construction. An official for the authority downplayed the letter, the Times reports, saying it was part of a normal negotiating process.
Eight arrests ordered in Egypt collision; death toll now 18
Egypt’s government has ordered the arrest of eight rail workers as a result of last week’s fatal collision between two passenger trains near Sohag. Agence France-Presse reports the arrests were ordered as the nation’s health minister revised the death toll downward to 18, with 200 injured. Originally, 32 deaths were reported [see “Digest: Legislation would create permanent funding for Amtrak,” Trains News Wire, March 26, 2021]. The prosecutor general has ordered the arrest of both train drivers, their two assistants, the head of traffic control in Assiut, the guard of a control tower, and two other guards.
CN nominates new board members, will achieve gender parity
Canadian National has nominated two new directors for its board, which would allow the railroad to achieve gender parity among its independent directors a year ahead of its goal. Nominated last week for the election to be held as part of the April 27 shareholders meeting are Denise Gray, president, LG Energy Solution Michigan Inc. Tech Center, and Justin Howell, senior investment manager at BMGI, which manages the assets of CN’s largest shareholder, Cascade Investment, LLC. Additionally, Margaret McKenize, who was appointed to the board in October 2020, will stand for election for the first time. More information is available here.
And We [FED Government] have been pouring Billions into this MESS? Built by some Spanish Contractor [not that it matters]? And they haven’t even obtained all of the Right-Of -Way Land YET? Well DUH?!?!?! I don’t care one bit, which administration authorized this, but I’m getting very tired of all this dumbbell type of spending OUR Tax Money on half-baked schemes. I’ll bet the CEO and Board of Directors of this Contractor outfit hasn’t missed one paycheck. And they are still crying that they NEED MORE money. Well guess who is footing the bill? And I’m getting TIRED OF IT!!!
What year is the California high-speed rail is going to be completed?
When is the California high speed rail is going to be completed?
Alas, poor MKE, city and county. A few billion here and there for interchanges (Marquette, Zoo, 894-94-43) that added little or no capacity, that were do-overs and will be redone again at more than the 10 bil. this time around.
Complaints about costs for California High Speed Rail are justified due to extremely high cost to build any infrastructure in much of the US. The $10.5 billion for the first segment is reasonable when compared against other highway projects that cost billions. Using Florida as an example, I-595 express lanes and improvements 10.5 miles $1.8 billion and Ultimate I-4 improvements for 21 miles more than $2.4 billion are examples why needed infrastructure is rarely built.
DAVID – Complaints about CalHSR are based on the futility of the project, mostly. The cost is a secondary issue.
Milwaukee’s Zoo Interchange cost only a few billion dollars for what amounts to about fifteen miles of freeway and numerous interchanges, carrying maybe 250,000 or more people per day plus trucks. How many people will a few billion dollars of CalHSR carry?
Most of you posting DO NOT know where CAHSR is getting its funding from, other than $3.5 Billion in Federal money, everything else has come from either Bond sales or the States Cap and Trade program, and the entire Central Valley portion is to be completed with only that $3.5 Billion dollar Federal investment on top of the what the voters approved and the state provides. For those that won’t believe me, here’s the break down: https://hsr.ca.gov/about/capital_costs_funding/
Bury this project!
I believe President Reagan said that nothing is so immortal as a government program, because the people sucking up the money will do anything to keep it going. But it’s true for many other things too; once people invest time and money into a project they are very reluctant to quit (think of all the Broadway shows that closed opening night – their backers must have know they had a flop on their hands long before). In this case the project never made any sense from the beginning but backers sold a bill of goods to California voters; the voters anyway have since realized they were bamboozled.
MARK – You will never forgive Obama? I will never forgive anyone who voted for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Because for all the problems Obama caused it will be ten times worse now.
CalHSR could dig a hole in the ground, dump a hundred billion dollars into the hole, and cover it up with soil. Kamala Harris would pay the hundred billion out of federal funds.
MARK – I appreciate your great list of projects where the money should have gone instead of to California.
Read the LA Times article, please. This is beyond nuts. Just think of what the $$$ just spent so far could have done to make Amtrak approaching something solid. We could have replaced the aging Superliners, probably prevented, unless Steven Gardner was gonna be let to swing a wrecking ball no matter what, the disastrous tri-weekly LD service, and gone a long way to funding Gateway. Maybe even started replacement of the B&P Tunnels. I will never forgive the Obama administration for starting this initiative. And not far from his Chicago home in the Kenwood neighborhood, the 75th Street Corridor CREATE set of projects remains unfunded, a set of projects that if completed would immeasurably improve freight traffic flows for CSX, NS, and BRC and get the Metra Southwest Service line a conflict-free way in and out of downtown. But Obama and his enablers just had to fund HSR in CA. And look at the mess we have.
$3.5 Billion dollars would NOT have been enough to cover everything you listed above, not by a long shot, and that is the total amount of money CAHSR has received from the Federal government…see the link in my comment below, because I know you won’t believe me.
At what point is the decision made to just scrap this high speed rail money pit? Already behind schedule and over budget. Now, more anticipated delays. Just call it quits already.